For over 90 years, proposals have been made for mounting lights to firearms. As far back as 1901, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued U.S. Pat. No. 689,576, which proposed mounting an incandescent lamp on a firearm. Since 1901, the Patent Office has issued quite a few patents for devices to mount flashlights to firearms. In certain instances, it is imperative to have a light source attached to a handgun.
As addressed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,758,933 and 5,167,446, officers are required to carry a flashlight and a sidearm. Most police shooting situations are in dim light or low light conditions, and the officer typically holds his flashlight with one hand and his sidearm with the other. Holding a light in one hand and a handgun in the other hand puts the officer at a distinct disadvantage. U.S. Pat. No. 4,758,933 provides a notch on the grip of the handgun for indexing the flashlight. This arrangement gets the flashlight pointed in the right direction, but the officer still has to hold the light in one hand and the handgun in the other. Another example is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,446, in which a bracket is attached for the flashlight and is positioned on the handgrip and held in place by both hands as the weapon is grasped. This arrangement takes time to position, and the flashlight has to be removed before the weapon can be holstered. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,348,716, the flashlight is attached to the weapon by a bracket that is attached by adhesive tape to the grip of a handgun and can neither be holstered in a standard holster nor removed from the weapon quickly.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,777,754, a high-powered light is semi-permanently mounted below the barrel of a handgun. This arrangement works well except the weapon cannot be holstered in a standard holster, and the light mount cannot be removed from the weapon very quickly.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,542,447, the flashlight mounts onto the handgun barrel and removes very quickly, but the handgun cannot be holstered in a standard holster with the light mounted and will tend to come loose or fall off if the weapon is fired.
Another disadvantage of light mounts shown in the prior patents is that many of them require modification of the existing weapon as by drilling holes for use of screws or attachment of plates or otherwise tampering with the handgun.